“It’s been a fascinating career — I feel very lucky to have lived it,” said Cliff Richner, co-owner of Richner Communications and the longtime publisher of Herald Community Newspapers, who retired last month after 36 years in a family-run company that has left an indelible mark on local community news on the South Shore.

After my mother died, my grown kids thought it would be good for me to have a couple of grandkids around for two weeks. You know, distraction and so forth. Let the young people lift my spirits and get me going.